PHOTOGRAPHS TOM SHINGLER
Shaved asparagus salad with goat’s cheese, watercress and grapefruit
BELOW THE SNAP: ESSENTIAL PREP WISDOM
Most of us prepare asparagus by bending the spears until they snap – separating the woody, more fibrous stalk from the tender tip. It’s a solid technique but a little wasteful, as that snappedoff end usually ends up in the bin.
Once you’ve snapped your spear, use a sharp knife to finely slice rounds from the bit you’d usually discard, starting at the broken end. When your knife starts to meet serious resistance or ‘woodiness’, that’s when you stop. The rounds you cut off should be included in your recipe; save the woody leftovers in the freezer for stock (or use to make a crunchy topping for your dish, like the gremolata on p24). With such a fleeting season, putting asparagus in the bin should be avoided at all costs!
Asparagus is just as good raw as it is cooked – as this salad sets out to prove. Using a vegetable peeler to create ribbons of asparagus ensures they’re good and tender but still have that crunch and grassy taste, which works wonderfully with the tang of grapefruit and creaminess of the goat’s cheese
Shaved asparagus salad with goat’s cheese, watercress and grapefruit
Serves 4 (or 6 as a side)
Hands-on
time 20 min
KNOW-HOW
There’s no need to snap the woody end off the asparagus spears here because they’re shaved into thin ribbons. Even the more fibrous parts of the stalk will be nice and tender.
EASY SWAPS
Replace the pumpkin
seeds with any nuts or seeds you fancy (or
happen to have in the cupboard).
• 2 pink or ruby grapefruit
• 2 tsp runny honey
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds (see Easy Swaps)
• 250g asparagus
• 50g watercress
• 200g soft goat’s cheese (we used abergavenny), chopped into small chunks
• 1 tsp sumac
1 Use a small serrated knife to top and tail a grapefruit. Sit on one of the cut ends and cut down the side of the fruit, following its natural curve, to remove the skin and white pith. Holding the grapefruit over a small bowl to catch any juice, cut in between the membranes to remove the individual segments, then put them in another small bowl. Repeat with the second fruit.
2 Squeeze the leftover membranes over the juice bowl to extract the rest of the juice. Whisk the honey and oil into the grapefruit juice, then season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
3 Toast the pumpkin seeds in a small dry frying pan for a few minutes until they start to pop and crack.
4 Use a vegetable peeler to carefully shave ribbons of asparagus into a large bowl. Scatter over a little salt, then add the watercress. Pour over the dressing and toss to coat.
5 Serve the salad on a large platter. Arrange the grapefruit segments and goat’s cheese on top, scatter over the toasted pumpkin seeds, then sprinkle with the sumac.
Per
serving
(for
6)
212kcals, 15.6g fat (7g saturated), 9.6g protein, 7g carbs (6.7g sugars), 0.5g salt, 2.4g fibre